Apparatus for and method of tempering gears and pinions.



J. E. WEBSTER & G. M. EATON.

APPARATUS FOR AND METHOD OF TEMPERING GEARS AND PINIONS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 7- 1913.

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4 ATTORNEY 1 .l. E. WEBSTER aa a; M. EATON. APPARATUS'FOB'AND METHOD 0F TEMPERING GEARS AND PINIO NS.

. APPLICATION FILED MAY 7, I913. 15.,

ammm Jam. 15, 1918.

,2 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- WITNESSES:

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JOHN E. WEBSTER, OF PITTSBURGH, AND GEORGE M. EATON, WILKINSBUR G, PENN- SYLVANIA, ASSIGNORS TO WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC AND MANUFACTURING COM- PAN Y, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

APPARATUS FOR AND METHOD OF TEMPERING GEARS AND PINIQNS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. -15, iota.

Application filed May 7, 1913; Serial No. 766,175.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known thatwe, JOHN- E. WEBSTER.

and GEORGE M. EATON, citizens of the United States, and residents, respectively, of Pittsburgh and Wilkinsburg, both in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Apparatus for and Methods of Tempering Gears and Pinions, of which the fel lowing is a specification.

-Our invention relates to methods of tempering'or hardening gears and pinions, and to apparatusfor practising the same.

One object of our invention is to simplify and improve the tempering of gear and pinion teeth and to provide an economical and expeditious method that shall insure a product of uniform excellence.

Another object of our invention is to 'provide inexpensive and simple apparatus that may be utilized expeditiously and with facil ity in ractising our method.

In t e prior art of tempering gears and pinions, it has been customary ,to plunge them, whenhot, quickly into a bath of cool fluid whereby they become hardened and tempered to a greater or less extent throughout their mass. The difliculty with such a process resides in the fact. that all of the teeth are nottreated in precisely "the same manner, and eddies, and gas pockets are likely to form between the teeth which prevent a uniform heat treatment of all por tions thereof.

Moreover, the resulting products of the methods heretofore practised were not of uniform quality, because the temperature of the cooling bath and, the length of time of immersion were governed only by the willof the operator. Inasmuch as these two factors were not predetermined, the results secured were not uniforml li and Sim-S; -fact0ry,.

Accord g to 'ouripresentinvention, we

propose;to treat" gears and pi'nions by subect'ing the teeth to a cooling bath which shall flow longitudinally between them in an annular stream at a. predetermined rate, the

reference to the accompanying drawings, in

which Figure 1 is a sectional view of a pre- 'ferred form of apparatus for practising our invention; Fig. 2 is a similar .view ofa modified apparatus for accomplishing a similar result, and Figs..3 and 4 are sectional views taken respectively on lines llIL-III and IV-IV of Fig. 2.

Referring to Fig. 1, a'liquid-containing or storage tank 1 is prbvided with a float valve 2 of any well-known construction which governs the flow of water thereto from a supply pipe 3, in the usual manner. A pipe 4 projects downwardly from the tank 1 and the lower portion 5 thereof is of U shape and is submerged ina body of water 6 contained within the tank or receptacle 7. At a por tion of the tube 4 that is normally submerged in the water 6,,a gate valve 9 is provided that has a suitable o crating mechanism 10by means of whic it may be adjusted. Any other suitable valve, of course, may be employed, although it is preferable to use a valve .which is relatively quickacting. v

The end 11 of the pipe 4 is detachable and projects above the normal water level a distance substantially equal to the thickness of apinion 12 to be treated, and within the tube 4 and somewhat below its extremityfls located a sup orting and deflecting member 13. The mom or 13, which is mounted upon a centrally disposed rod 14, serves to support the pinion 12 to be treated and also constitutes .a cone-shaped deflector having its apex pointing downwardly in order to definitely prescribe the course of, the fluid which is employed for treating the pinion in the manner hereinafter set forth. It will be noted that the diameter of the end 11 of the pipe 4 is slightly greater than thatof the pinion. 12, whereby an annular passage 15 is. provided around the pinion through which the cooling bath is caused to flow.

Usually, it will .be desirable to place a mufile-plate 15* over the central opening or bore 12 of the pinion 12 to prevent the access of cooling fluid thereto, although, under certain conditions,it may be advisable o permit such access of fluid.

Assuming the various parts of the apparatus to occupy the positions shown and the tank 1 and p1pe 4 to be filled with fluld, and the pinion 12 to be heated to the desired temperature, the .operation of treatlng the pinion is as follows:

' The valve 9 is first opened, therebyipermitting the fluid contained in the pipe 4, and tank 1 to be forced by gravity upwardl .past the conical deflector '13 and throng the annular opening 15 between the pinion teeth 12 and the end 11 of the pipe 4 in a solid stream. Thus, all portions of the teeth 12 aresubjected to a predetermined quan tity of the cooling fluid for a predetermined length of time. The size of the tank 1, or.

at least the amount of water contained therein, will be so chosen that the treatment of the pinion 12 may be completed when the water in the pipe 4 has fallen to a height which corresponds to the upper extremity stood that, in the meantime, the tank 1 and' the p1pe 4 are refilled to the desired amount.

The apparatus is then in readiness for a slmllar treatment of another pinion.

Reference may now be had to 'Fi 2, 3

' and 4 in which the cooling fluid wit in the tank 1 is allowed to act upon the pinion 12 to be treated as it descends through the pi e 4 1nto a suitable drain 17. In this case, t e p1pe 4 ls-provided with a valve 18 of the gravity type which maybe operated through a sultable mechanism 19-, and the pinion 12 1s adapted to be supported in position upon a pivotally mountedbracket arm-'21 which is adapted to swing into proper relationship with the tube 4. e

Thetube 4 comprises two sections 4 and 4 w h1ch are telescoped together at an inter.- mediate pomt to-permit of re1ative'mo'vement between the lowersectiorf 4 and the pinion 12. A pivotally mounted handle 22 is provided with 'a yoke portion 23 which straddlesthe pipe 4" and cooperates with sultable p1ns 24 therein in such manner as .to efiect a vertical movement thereof when properly 0 erated by the attendant' The coneshape w thin the lowerportion of the tube 4 by su table supports 25 and is adapted to rest deflector 13 is attached rigidly to pass longitudinally between the teeth 12 of the pinion 12 in an annular stream at a rapid rate, thereby tempering or hardening the teeth 12 to any desired de ree, accord-' ing to the amount of cooling uid and the temperature thereof.

It will, of course, be understood that our method of tempering. gears and inions is not dependent upon anyv particu ar apparatus and that the forms herein'illustrated are merely convenient commercial types of f apparatus, by which our method may be practised. We desire that only such limitations shall be imposed as are indicated in the appended claims.

We claim as our invention 1. The method of .1 uniformly tempering pinions which consists in causing a predetermined volume of fluid to pass longitudinally along the teeth in an annular stream at a predetermined rate.

2. The method of treating gears which consists in causing a predetermmed volume of fluid to as's longitudinally alon the teeth thereo ina uniformly distri uted stream. f

3. An apparatus for treating toothed gears comprlsin means forsupporting a gear and means or flowing a predetermined volume of cooling fluid between the gear teeth at a predetermined rate.

4. An apparatus for treating toothed gears comprlsing a liquid-receiving tank, a u-shaped pipepartially submerged in the liquid within sa1d tank, means for supportmg a gear within one end of said pipe and just above theliquid level and means for discharging a predetermined-volume of liq- 111d. into the opposite end of said pipe.

5. The combination with a U'-shaped pipe, and means within 'one end thereof for supporting a gear centrally in position, of means for dlschag'ging a predetermined volume of cooling-fluid into the other endof saidpipe.

In testimony whereof, we have hereunto subscribed our names this 30th day of April,

JOHN E. WEBSTER. GEORGE M. EATON. Witnesses:

A. B. Kuonm,

Emmy WIscHmn. 

